One of the horror genre's "most widely read critics" (Rue Morgue # 68), "an accomplished film journalist" (Comic Buyer's Guide #1535), and the award-winning author of Horror Films of the 1980s (2007), The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia (2007) and Horror Films of the 1970s (2002), John Kenneth Muir, presents his blog on film, television and nostalgia, named one of the Top 100 Film Studies Blog on the Net.

Monday, December 10, 2012

Cult-TV Theme Watch: Castles

A
castle is a “fortified structure,”
usually the residence of a noble or lord.
We tend to associate castles with fairy tales, or with medieval action
of some type.

Not
surprisingly, castles have proven a mainstay of cult-television history and
have appeared as settings in fantasy programming -- live and animated -- throughout the decades. Castles have also shown up in horror and
science fictions programming many times too.

Two
of the most memorable castles in cult-television history appeared in 1980s
animated programs.

The
first is Castle Grayskull on Eternia, the refuge of He-Man and the Sorceress in
the early 1980s Filmation effort, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
(1982). More than one episode of that
series involves Skeletor’s attempts to take possession of the ancient
structure.

The
second is the Castle of Lions on Voltron (1984), on the planet
Arus. There, members of the Galaxy
Alliance had to locate the five keys of Voltron and assemble all the giant
robot’s parts…

In
terms of live-action storytelling, both the original Star Trek (1966 – 1969)
and original Battlestar Galactica (1978 – 1979) featured tales involving
castles. In “Errand of Mercy,” the
Organian Council met inside a mountaintop castle, one later taken over by Kor
(John Colicos) and the Klingons. This
castle was represented by stock footage.

And
in Battlestar
Galactica’s “The Young Lords” Lt. Starbuck (Dirk Benedict) ends up on a
world where a royal human family had been banished from its castle so the
structure can house a Cylon garrison.

Intriguingly,
both these programs involve fascinating visual counterpoints. The highly advanced (and indeed non-corporeal…)
Organians dwell in an ancient castle from a time long past. Similarly, the sight of chrome, robotic
Cylons patrolling the perimeter of an old, stone castle brings up the powerful
idea of colliding realities or timelines.

Other
cult-television programs have featured castles associated with famous literary
or mythical characters. The
Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977 – 1979) took its main characters
to Count Dracula’s castle in Transylvania in “Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew meet
Dracula (September 18, 1978), and Star Trek: the Next Generation’s Captain
Picard had to rescue Maid Marian/Vash from Q’s (John De Lancie) castle in a
Robin Hood-styled fantasy in “Q-Pid.”

The
recent renaissance in fantasy television has also brought us the Land of
Storybook castle in Once Upon a Time (2011 - ) and several more castles in Game
of Thrones (2011 - ). These
fantasy programs have had considerably more success than the 1980s effort Wizards
and Warriors (1983)…which also featured a memorable castle or two...

About John

award-winning author of 27 books including Horror Films FAQ (2013), Horror Films of the 1990s (2011), Horror Films of the 1980s (2007), TV Year (2007), The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia (2007), Mercy in Her Eyes: The Films of Mira Nair (2006),, Best in Show: The Films of Christopher Guest and Company (2004), The Unseen Force: The Films of Sam Raimi (2004), An Askew View: The Films of Kevin Smith (2002), The Encyclopedia of Superheroes on Film & Television (2004), Exploring Space:1999 (1997), An Analytical Guide to TV's Battlestar Galactica (1998), Terror Television (2001), Space:1999 - The Forsaken (2003) and Horror Films of the 1970s (2002).

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